FHSU Sports
Ryan Prickett, Sports Information Director
CLEVELAND – Fort Hays State remains among the top 20 nationally in the final winter release of the Learfield Directors’ Cup Standings on Thursday, March 30. FHSU closed out the fall ranked seventh in the standings, and now sits at 19th with over 300 points generated in the standings. FHSU still leads all schools from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and the Central Region of NCAA Division II.
Fort Hays State has 300.5 points in the standings following a total of 107.5 points generated by its national qualifiers in men’s indoor track and field and wrestling. With a 12th-place national finish, wrestling’s four national qualifiers (Jon Inman, Brandon Ball, Greg Tooley, and Christian Lance) generated 64.5 points in the standings, while Dillando Allotey and Brett Meyer gave FHSU a 30th place finish at the indoor track and field championships, producing 43 points.
Tack the winter total on to the 193 points generated by fall sports and Fort Hays State is one of 19 schools to eclipse the 300-point mark so far. Grand Valley State (Mich.) has a strong lead in the standings with 701.5 points, with Colorado School of Mines next on the list at 498.5 points. Wingate is just a half point behind that with 498.
Next on the list among MIAA schools is Central Missouri 20th with 298 points. The Mules made a recent leap with their women’s basketball team generating 50 points for their finish in the NCAA Tournament. Lindenwood is 26th with 269 points.
Fort Hays State continues to lead all Central Region schools in NCAA Division II, with Minnesota State of the NSIC right behind Central Missouri in 21st with 294.25 points. The top performer from the GAC currently is Harding (62nd) at 178 points.
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has three teams inside the top 10 of the standings, while the South Atlantic Conference and Great Northwest Athletic Conference each have two.
However, the competitive balance in the MIAA is unmatched as the conference has 11 of its 14 member schools in the top 100.
The Learfield Directors’ Cup Standings are based off of national finishes in NCAA Championship sports. The Learfield Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today.
The next Division II & III standings will be released Thursday, May 18.